Kerry councillors frustrated at lack of progress on Killarney bypass project

Upgrade of route from Killarney to Tralee, bypassing the village of Farranfore and the town of Killarney, was first unveiled in 2008

Councillors told long-awaited 27km national roads project on the county's main N22 artery cannot progress because of a lack of funding for reports. File picture: Denis Minihane

Councillors in Kerry have voiced frustration after it emerged a long-awaited 27km national roads project on the county's main N22 artery cannot progress because of a lack of funding for reports.

Engineers were asked "to prove the new road would attract less traffic than the existing route", a meeting was told.

The meeting also heard lack of investment in roads was contributing to fatalities and to injuries.

The upgrade of the main route from Killarney to Tralee, bypassing the village of Farranfore and the town of Killarney, was first unveiled in 2008 after four years of consultation. It was revisited in 2019 and new routes chosen.

Four main corridors were identified and went before the public in 2021, and the preferred option was to have been published in November 2022. However, new criteria were introduced late last year to meet the requirements of climate action plans.

This necessitated a further peer review of the routes and the selection had to be postponed, the meeting heard.

The €100,000 provided by the Department of Transport /Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) was "not sufficient" to enable the council to complete the studies to meet the new rules and requirements for new roads, chief executive Moira Murrell said.

Ms Murrell said the council would be seeking an increased allocation for 2024 to allow the option selection process to continue.

The climate action plan in particular had implications for the route selection process, Frank Harnett, senior engineer and director of roads and transportation in the council, said.

Mayor of Kerry Cllr Jim Finucane hit out at the department for the situation.

'The mind boggles'

"The mind boggles. You have to prove the new road will attract less traffic," Mr Finucane said.

It was time for the other main parties to stand up to Transport Minister Eamon Ryan, he added, referring to Mr Ryan’s opposition to the liquefied natural gas terminal in Ballylongford.

Land use along the corridor has been sterilised for decades and Killarney’s traffic problems are intractable until the new road is constructed, councillors said.

Independent councillor Jackie Healy-Rae had called on the council to clarify the situation with the N22. He also asked for clarification as to who would undertake the site selection.

Speaking on a separate motion on road safety after four fatalities in North Kerry in just three weeks, Mr Healy-Rae said there had been a 13% cut in road funding in Budget 2024.

A briefing note from the TII to the Department of Transport in October predicted deaths and injuries on the South Kerry-Killarney route if the bypass did not go ahead, he said.

A spokesman for TII said it expected the council to be in contact with TII and the Department of Transport to seek further funding for the necessary reviews of the N22 project.